| Burton | |
|---|---|
 Burton Green looking east towards Salisbury Road | |
  Burton Location within Dorset | |
| OS grid reference | SZ1694 |
| Civil parish |
|
| Unitary authority | |
| Ceremonial county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | CHRISTCHURCH |
| Postcode district | BH23 |
| Police | Dorset |
| Fire | Dorset and Wiltshire |
| Ambulance | South Western |
| UK Parliament | |
Burton is a village in the civil parish of Burton and Winkton in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole district of Dorset, England. The village is elevated above the Avon Valley on a gravel plateau. Much of the village was built in the 1970s, and today the population is around 4,000.
The toponymy of Burton suggests an Anglo-Saxon settlement but the first record of the name appears in twelfth-century records. It is thought that this is because it has always been viewed as an extension of Christchurch. Certainly, there is evidence of human habitation there as far back as the mesolithic. The oldest existing parts date back to at least the early 18th century.
There are a number of listed buildings in the village including the parish church of St Luke, built in 1874-75 and designed by Benjamin Ferrey, and Burton Hall, a large 18th-century residence with grade II* status. Burton was home of the poet and writer Robert Southey between 1799 and 1805, and he wrote his well known fairytale, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, in the village.